Britain's prime minister David Cameron has appealed to European Union leaders to agree to significant reforms to keep Britain in the EU, telling them they must address British voters' concerns over immigration.
Mr Cameron spoke for 40 minutes over dinner at a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. Every other EU leader was given an opportunity to respond.
In a strong intervention, Taoiseach Enda Kenny cited Britain’s support for Ireland during the bailout crisis, urging everyone to work with Britain to find a solution.
“David Cameron is asking for our help and we should give it to him,” Mr Kenny said.
In a significant move, German chancellor Angela Merkel opened the door to changing the EU treaties to accommodate Britain’s demands, although she suggested such changes could be postponed for a number of years.
Satisfaction
Speaking after the dinner, Mr Cameron expressed satisfaction with the response to his intervention, and said he was optimistic an agreement can be reached at an EU summit in February.
“Really good progress has been made but it is going to be tough because we are attempting something very difficult, something that hasn’t been tried before or tried by another country, and that is to renegotiate our position inside this European Union, at a time of our choosing, with the mandate of the British people behind us,” he said.
“The good news is that there is a pathway to an agreement, and I’m confident of that after the discussion we’ve just had.
“But the truth is that it will be very hard work not only on welfare, but hard work on all of the issue we’ve put forward, because they are substantial, they involve real change, and they will need real decisions by all 28 members of the European Union.”
Earlier, Minister for European Affairs Dara Murphy said Ireland is "very unlikely" to participate in the new European Border and Coast Guard agency.
Mr Murphy said that while it was too early to say definitively if Ireland would participate in the EU-wide coast guard, he predicted that involvement was unlikely.
As non-Schengen members, Ireland and Britain will not technically be parts of the agency, though both countries have participated in its precursor, Frontex.
“Firstly, we need to see if the new agency will be an evolution of Frontex or a new agency. Its main objective is to protect the Schengen external borders, of which Ireland is not a part,” he said.
